1) Well, tomorrow is Davis' retirement party at work.  Because Davis is not one who enjoys the warmth of the spotlight, he insisted that they not make a big thing out of it and so his co-workers are going to have his celebration in conjunction with their district Christmas party.  As his loving wife, of course, I'm invited.  The retiree's spouse is not a role I've ever played before and so I will be forging new ground tomorrow.  After working for the same agency for 33 years, this is going to be quite an adjustment for him........and if I find him loafing around the house unshaven in his pajama bottoms very often, well, it's going to be an adjustment for me, too.  Davis has never been a loafer so I don't expect it to be a problem.  I do look forward to him having more time and flexibility to be with us, his adorable and irresistible family.  I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories about the retirement party that I'll force you to look at so don't go too far.

2) Like you, we've been so, so busy!  This was our first night at home in a while and so I was able to finally put up some Christmas adornments outside.  You'll be happy to know that we don't look quite so atheistic to passing cars now.

3) We've covered a lot of Christmas party ground since we last talked.  So far, we've eaten a lot of saturated fats, played our share of Dirty Santa and got to visit with people we love.  But, one of our very favorite treats is always celebrating Christmas with our dear friend of 25 years, Mrs. Wright.  She was one of our very first neighbors as a married couple and we've kept up with her through the years even though that was two houses ago.  Mrs. Wright is only a few days from turning 92 and if I'm.......well, alive at her age, I will consider it a blessing and if I'm still as active and engaged as she......well, mercy.  She's something else!  

I don't know what it is about Christmas that makes us more emotionally aware of the preciousness of those around us but it sure does.  Everyone seems to have a heart that sees the value in others at Christmastime.  Eyes that can see the treasure they possess by having that person in their lives.  That's how we were feeling about Mrs. Wright, the other night.  She's tossing around the idea of a move to be near her children which would take her away from us and so just the thought of that may have produced a tear or two as we were all reminded of how much we cherish being part of her life.

4)  Christmas is such a fun time of year but there are a lot of people who are hurting, too.  Our sweet friend, Barry, just lost his mother and I know that there are so many others who are grieving and trying to navigate the holidays for the first time.  It's just a hurdle that has to be overcome and it's not the least bit fun.  Like we talked about, the other day, Christmas has so many memories attached to it that it just brings those we're missing to the surface of our minds over and over again.  I'm praying for all those who are sad in the midst of all the merriment.  Those who have something tugging at them so hard.  Someone they're missing at the table.  Something that's weighing down the light spirit of Christmas for them.  God, be close to them during the holidays.

5)  Well, my sweet cousin, Amy, took some pictures of us for a Christmas card.  We were ill and void of color when our appointment with the photographer came around and so, after the plague finally subsided,  Amy was kind enough to work within our 1 hour time frame in which we were all available at the same time. 

So, I sat down to design the card on the computer and I started thinking about addressing all of them and mailing them out and I talked myself right out of doing cards this year.  I guess I'm suffering from a lack of motivation.  It could be a lingering effect of the virus but I'm taking the easy way to Christmas Day and I'm kinda liking it.  So, if you would have received a Christmas card from us, it would've looked something like this......